The year was 1808. The place, Jammu. Raja Jaid Singh was placed on the throne of Jammu to be its king, supported by the presence of Mian Mota Singh, the all-powerful kingmaker of Jammu. In this period of madness in the province of Jammu, one hoped that Jammu would witness a semblance of balance and stability being created. Jammu had been in a free fall following the death of Raja Brijraj Dev. Sampuran Singh, the successor, succumbed to smallpox, leading to the situation that a new successor had to be found desperately. In the scramble, the name of Jaid Singh came forward, and with Mian Mota Singh’s support, Jaid Singh ascended the throne. Raja Brijraj Dev of Jammu ( painting with San Diego Museum of Art) Contributing to the constant madness in Jammu were the Khalsa forces who would raid Jammu and pillage it constantly, devoiding it of its wealth. The 1783 pillage of Jammu remained afresh in the minds of the people and the aristocrats alike - for two months, one witnessed not a single
1533 Painting of the Likeness of Muhammad Bin Tughlaq (source: Agha Mehdi Husain) History has so many lessons and anecdotes hidden in its womb, and sometimes it becomes rather difficult to even search them. It is like trying to discover the innermost layers in an onion, where you fail to realize where the original bud lies underneath the layers that you keep peeling away. This is unfortunately the case of the history of the larger Punjab Hill states region, where historical research seems to be stuck in a rut and there is a lack of effort to revisit history and see the nuances once again. Be that as it may, it is rather interesting at times when you stumble across instances that make you wonder how it slipped your eye all this while. As is still claimed, the history of the Pathania rulers of Nurpur tends to become clearer only in the middle ages, as more 'reliable' sources start referring to the region and its rulers. One such source was the history of the Muslim conquests wr